A Reflection on Transitional Justice in Guatemala 15 Years After the Peace Agreements

Abstract

This chapter is a reflection of what the wartime prosecutions in Guatemala have achieved in the past fifteen years since the signing of the peace agreements. Through their participation in emblematic wartime cases in Guatemala, victims have infused the justice system with accountability to make it harder for individual prosecutors or judges to dismiss the cases; they have brought resources that have resulted in better investigations, better trials and better evidence and even more protection for the brave prosecutors and judges and they have creatively pushed the boundaries of law to advance criminal law and procedural doctrines in accordance with international legal developments. However, these heroic efforts in important individual cases have yielded few lasting reforms in the judicial system of Guatemala. It is time for Guatemala to acknowledge that it has asked too much from the victims and to consider alternative models for addressing the persistent and endemic problems of transitional justice in the country.

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The author is Professor of Law and Director of the Inter-American Program at the Pacific McGeorge School of Law. I thank the support of my scholarship by my law school Pacific McGeorge School of Law and the research assistance of Erika González, JD 2012. I dedicate this chapter to the many victims and lawyers of the wartime cases in Guatemala for their valour and tenacity, and in particular Jennifer Harbury who over the years has also become a friend.